Donald Byrd – Fuego

A stunning little hard-bopper! Jackie and Donald make a great pairing. For some reason this album never gets mentioning like it should!

Great performance by Byrd & Co. and recording. I like the BG remastering a lot and the material/pressing features, and cannot wait to play the record with a mono cartridge. Though, with my stereo cartridge it already sounds very good. Another serious recommendation of these specific Classic reissue series.

This pressing sounds great to my ear, still has the Van Gelder lineage you want in a Blue Note recording. Current pricing on this press is a relative bargain compared to similar releases. Get this version before everybody wakes up and figures it out.

IMO this is a hidden gem. it is very satisfying musically and sonically.

This his third album as leader for Blue Note, is the first where he performs exclusively self penned numbers. He's dropped a sax from the line up to perform in a Quintet, and with Duke Pearson on piano you get quite a soulful feel. This album was the best up to this point, and he continued to further expand and progress in his career.